Die Another Day
by Ve1vet R0se
Summary: Angels are mysteriously shutting down and a strange virus in their systems are to blame. Hannah Leonhart and her Angel are on the case, but can they solve this mystery or will the virus get to Angel Sakura first? Sequel to 'Against the Odds' Hiatus
1. File 001: Save the Last Dance

The rain had not stopped for days. It was unusual, yet, in a way it was calming. Pandemonium had struck in the Realm of Angels. Icchan now worked twenty hour shifts, paperwork, mostly complaints created mountains on his desk. Ogota also worked long hours, glad to be free of the usual punishments he received for being thirty seconds late. He never thought Icchan would run out of energy, yet he continually found himself shaking his boss to wake him up because he was drooling on some paperwork.

Angelic Layer, one of the most popular games in America at the moment, a big rival to games like Ever Quest. It started in Japan, but when sales there began to decline Mihara launched Angelic Layer International. It was an instant hit, and weeks later they started the two Nationals tournaments for America. Hannah Leonhart, a spunky thirteen year old at the time won the tournament that was held near the East Coast. Lina Paiya, a martial arts master won West Coast. The two battled before, the pink haired Angel that belonged to Hannah won.

It's been about two years since the release of Angelic Layer Int. Another Nationals tournament had already been held, Hannah won for East Coast again; though she hadn't heard from Lina. A few weeks ago a new system for Angelic Layer was released. It was a computer program that was supposed to make Angels stronger, faster, and more balanced. It was first released in California. As soon as it had started it was stopped.

Someone had betrayed Mihara, and put a virus on the disks. Though for about a week no one knew about the virus. When they plugged their Angels, who were in their scanners, into the computers they had been condemned to death.

It started with one Angel, it was relatively new, belonging to a strong Deus. In the middle of the battle the Angel's purple eyes changed to black. After that it became completely lifeless, it's system just shut down. The Angel repair experts were baffled; the Angel's insides had melted! They believed the Angel became over heated and just began to melt. The Angel was never repaired.

Soon the repair shop was flooded with confused Deus whose Angel's had also 'overheated'. Until that fateful day… Every Deus in California woke up to realize their Angel's had shut down too. Even the ones who weren't plugged in to their owner's PC. Every computer in the state had been shut off for many weeks until their e-mails were erased. They thought this would be the solution to the problem.

Weeks later they received news that the virus had spread to Nevada, then to Oregan. Washington, Idaho, Utah; it was insane. Finally they shut all computers off. It took another couple of weeks but they had successfully erased all e-mails. Everyone thought that the virus was gone for good, and everyone relaxed.

It's too bad though… because they were wrong.

* * *

**Leonhart Residence. 6:40 am**

"Uhh… wah! I'm gonna be LATE-!" Hananh practically screamed leaping out of bed. Everything HAD to be perfect for today. It was her first day of high school! Hannah had been accepted to one of the best school's in Virginia, she used the money she had earned from winning Angelic Layer tournaments to pay for her tuition.

Quickly putting on her uniform and grabbing her backpack and a strange doll on her desk she barreled down the stairs. Almost on cue a piece of toast popped out of the toaster, while stampeding by she grabbed it. She glanced at her older brother, "Are you supposed to be at college now or something-?" stopping for a second to ask.

Lance momentarily looked up from behind the newspaper, "No. Aren't you going to be late-?" Lance was Hannah's older brother, it would be his third year of college soon, he had come home to visit though, and to annoy his sister.

This brought her back to her first problem. "Eeks!" she rushed the door, "Love ya guys bye!" with that said she was gone.

"Oh wait Hannah-! You're manager…" Amy Leonhart, Hannah's mom ran in a little too late, she half sighed, "-wanted you to look at another script… I swear that girl is always stressed out over something. Whether it's another role or being five minutes late for school."

"That's Hananh for ya…" he shrugged, returning to the article he had been reading before his little sister barreled in,

Hannah Leonhart, what to say about her-? For one thing she's always at least two minutes late for everything like school, meeting friends, another scene. Oh! You're wondering about 'scenes'. Well… she's also an actress, though she usually only films during weekends, summer vacation and spring break. Her parents had refused to pull her out of school. Hannah has already starred in a biography about when she started playing Angelic Layer and from then until she won the Nationals almost two years ago.

As for her Angel, well they look nothing alike. Hannah has long, straight, light brown almost blonde hair. Her eyes are strange, one is blue the other is light gray. Her Angel though has emerald green eyes and bright pink hair that hangs past her shoulders. The ends of her hair are a bit split though; during a battle an Angel had sliced a bit of her hair off. (A/N: Kudos to all who remember that)

Sakura, Hannah's Angel, wears a black sleeveless shirt with a white sleeveless shirt underneath. The back of her shirt is decorated with two white Angel wings while the front holds a pink star design, the same color as her hair. Around her neck is a black choker with a small pink star; and on her arms are two long black gloves with a pink star on top of each hand and purple fingers. There are also two metallic purple bands wrapped tightly around her upper arms with a pink star design also. Her short match her shirt, black with a slightly larger pair of white underneath. Sakura's black boots go up to mid thigh to almost reach her shorts, from the ankle down the black changes to white. Also on each ankle is a large pink star design. The final piece would be her Angel cord, brown goggles with a pink star on each lens and a pink star on a cord dangling off the buckle.

After going many battles without being defeated Sakura earned her title as the: 'Star Angel' or the 'Shooting Star Angel' or when she was working her way up the ranks in the Nationals she was the 'Rising Star'. There are many other nicknames for her that involve the words Star and Angel. Hannah believes Sakura is guided by her own star, that's kinda why she went crazy with the pink stars designs.

Since small weapons are now allowed for certain battles now. And since Sakura was based off a ninja in one of Hannah's favorite manga; she carries around several shuriken and small kunai blades in a little black pouch that is barely noticeable as it hangs off her shorts.

"I'm sorry!" she cried bursting into the room, some of the girls from her old class clapped.

"Wow Hannah! That's a new record from the gate to the classroom. The teacher isn't here yet so you're safe." One girl Hannah recognized at Lizzie said.

"Phew…" she sighed in relief but jumped when there was a voice behind her.

"You're safe, but just barely." Mr. Armstrong smirked as he walked in behind her after Lizzie's comment.

As the girl sat down people immediately swarmed around her, "Hey Hannah! I saw you're movie, it was so sad!" "Even my dad cried!" "Can you get me an audition-?" "Is it really cool being a movie star-?" "I saw the previews for you're next movie!" Those were some of the only things she was able to pick out over the babble.

"Alright break it up! Time for class!" Armstrong whacked a ruler on his desk and immediately all the students returned to their seats. Hannah looked a little stunned.

Orientation took longer than she expected, she glanced at her watch, noticing it was almost one o' clock-! At least there weren't any real classes, though that probably wouldn't last long. Checking her schedule she noticed it was time for lunch, then P.E. and then school was over, leaving her with a good hour of layer practice before going home and making dinner.

Lunch was always something she had looked forward too in Jr. High; but that was all about to change. Stepping into the lunchroom she didn't see any open seats. None of the kids who had mobbed her earlier were there either. A few of her friends that had transferred with her stepped up next to Hannah, looking equally desperate for a seat.

So the four girls found themselves sitting in the upstairs in the deserted bathroom. Supposedly this bathroom was haunted, though it was their first day and they didn't know.

"So Han. I heard that your next movie is coming out soon-?" One girl said, Hannah recognized her as Anna. She seemed a little hurt that the only thing people talked about around her was movies. She would much prefer to talk about Angelic Layer, "Can ya tell us what it's about-?"

"…" Hannah paused, but she didn't want to come off as rude so she gave in, "Well… it's like an anime, well the plot is sorta along the lines of a typical anime anyways. It's a modern fantasy where six babies are injected with DNA after they were kidnapped. But then the cops found all the scientists and arrested them, except for one called the 'Witch Doctor'. Then they skip ahead fourteen years where one girl, that's me, transforms into a thief during the night. A boy, transforms into something like a superhero that's bent on stopping me. And so on and so forth…" She kinda went way into detail.

The other three girls looked amazed, and a bit excited. "When's the premier-?" A red haired girl, Chelsea, asked.

"Friday."

"What-! But we haven't seen any commercials for it yet!"

"We have commercials all over different stations, just not MTV." (A/N: 8D Burn.)

"… Oh…" her friends said in unison, all sighing.

"So… will you guys come watch my next Angelic Layer tournament-?"

"…" they paused again, Hannah took a wild guess and thought they forgot about the whole reason she did get a role in a movie. "Oh! Sure! I almost forgot about Sakura! Sorry…" the third girl said quickly, her name was Rita.

"S'okay." Hannah replied taking another bite of her salad, "So you're coming right-?"

"Yeah."

"Sure."

"'Kay!"

_RIIING!_

The halls were crowded with people dragging their feet towards the gym. Apparently everyone in Sonomi High hated P.E.

Save excited lil' Hannah that is. She dodged past people, half skipping half jogging to the gym. The teacher, Ms. Robbins, praised her for being the first on there and for being the only one on time. Everyone else showed up five minutes later, grumbling.

Since it was the first day Ms. Robbins ran through the rules, schedule, and finally she came to roll call. Maybe it was just bad luck but as soon as her name escaped the gym teacher's mouth Hannah once again was mobbed by a swarm of screaming fans. It took several dodge balls to get them all off, and a couple of senior boys. Hannah shuddered and looked shocked again.

"Moving on…"

Her streak of bad luck continued when she stepped out of the school building that afternoon. The fans screeched and tackled her, this time there weren't any dodge balls to help her. "Can't breathe…"

Though moments later she felt the weight of all the fans being lifted off. She looked up, it was the six senior guys that had saved her in P.E. Scrambling to her feet she smoothened out her uniform skirt and thanked them.

"Zack told us to make sure ya didn't get hurt by the geeks." One said in a Jersey accent.

"You know my Zackey-wac- I mean you know Zack-?" she blushed a litte; Zack was a tall Asian boy that she knew from the nationals tournament. He was also her boyfriend…

"He's our little cousin." Another one said, "Though he doesn't go to school here."

Now that they mentioned it, the six of them did look a little bit like Zack. All of them had dark brown or jet black hair and dark amber eyes. She chuckled nervously, "Well… tell Zack I said 'hi'!" and with that the girl turned and ran off. No sooner had she done so she slammed into a dark figure, knocking both of them to the ground.

"M'so sorry- Zack!" before the figure could even get up she embraced him ina bear hug.

"Hi- Hannah." He replied back, "How's yer' first day-?"

"Oh…" suddenly she felt a little sad, "It was okay." She returned her arms to her side so Zack could breath. "Hey! Are ya coming to the tournament tomorrow?"

"Yep. I'm competing. I'll totally kick your butt his time!" he grinned putting his index finger on her forehead like big brothers do.

Hannah shook her head, "Nu uh! I'm gonna win _again _for sure! M'the favorite to win."

Zack and Hannah already battled against each other in the Nationals tournament. Zack's Angel was named Sasuke, a raven haired Angel also based off and ninja like Sakura. Sakura had a bit of trouble beating Sasuke, but in the end she won.

"Ya mean like in a horse race-?"

"No!" she spat back playfully.

The Asian boy sighed in defeat, still grinning, "You're still my favorite…"

"Aweee-! Zackie that was so cheesy!" she hugged him again, "But it made my day!"

* * *

"Ladies and germs-! Boys and girls! Welcome to Element Stadium! Washington D.C.'s official Angelic Layer Stadium!" the stadium itself was new, sponsored by BAM and Element, skateboarding companies. "Today we are pleased to announce that our own Angelic Layer Champ will be appearing in this tournament!"

The crowd roared in excitement, Hannah's name had been taken out of the phamplet just for a surprise. The Piffle Princess Company hope that this would encourage more people to come to Element Stadium after this tournament. As if they didn't pack enough people in.

Suddenly the lights began to dim, and one blinding spotlight over the layer turned on. A hush fell over the crowd, but excitement hung in the air. A very deep, smooth voice came over the intercom, which made some of the girls melt. "This is an Egg… Filled with… a Dream.

"This is…" he didn't even have to finish because the crowd ended his sentence by screaming, "_Angelic Layer!" _in unison while the promo Angel, who was modeled after Hikaru, burst from the egg.

After he managed to calm the audience down the announcer cued the computer to start randomizing names, "Our first battle will be between… Deus Hannah and Angel Sakura versus…" everyone held their breaths, waiting for the second name, "Deus Zack and Angel Sasuke!" the audience roared again when the two figures stepped into the arena.

Before they sat down Hannah and Zack approached each other, "May the best man or woman win." He said calmly holding out his hand.

"Don't worry, I will." Hannah grinned and shook his hand. Zack whispered some smart alec remark back before they both went to their seats.

"Angels to the layer!" the announcer called as the crowd became excited.

"Let the power of your own star guide you to victory," she half whispered, "Fall in Sakura!"

The pink haired Angel gracefully touched down, bending her knees in, putting her right hand on one knee and making a peace sign with the other. The auburn haired girl stifled a giggle, she had always wanted to try Kuro-chan's 'V' pose.

* * *

We interrupt this fan fic to bring you an author's note!

Sakura and Sasuke were both in the Nationals, and as some of ya know from the last chapter of ATO Saku and Sasu received voice boxes. Kinda like Kurokoneko has a voice, so they have their own personalities and can talk by themselves when they're on the layer.

And without further ado, we return to Living for the Moment!

* * *

Sasuke dropped in, landing gently, but immediately he crossed his arms over his chest and wore his usual scowl, "Hello Sakura…"

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura grinned, looking a bit like a fan girl at the moment. The announcer let her talk before starting the battle, "I won't go easy on you Sasuke-kun!" she said in her soft voice, looking overjoyed.

"'Tch." Sasuke spat back (AN: He's a bit rude but he does care deeply for Sakura. Ah… Angel love…)

Sasuke had jet-black hair, spiky, and coal colored eyes to match. His battle costume ws pretty simple, black t-shirt with a red circle on the back, arm wrappings that went up to his shoulder so they were a bit covered over by his sleeves. Long white shorts that go down to about his knees, leg wrappings like his arm wrappings and black boots that go just past his ankles. Finally, Sasuke's Angel cord is a black cloth headband with a long white cord that hangs down and a red tip.

'Sasuke-kun' was built with an emphasis on speed while Sakura is primarily balance but has some speed. He has the ability to disappear but he's got no defense whatsoever.

"Ready then? Angelic Fight!" the announcer began the battle, which got the crowd roaring again. The layer today would be flat, since there were some newbies battling today.

As usual Sasu-kun made the first move. He disappeared and for a few moments was nowhere to be found. Sakura did not seem the least bit worried. She shifted her weight to her right leg, crossing her arms over her chest and yawning.

Heartbeats later the raven haired Angel appeared behind her. It was strange because the ickle little balance Angel didn't seem the least bit worried that he could easily knock her out of the later. Sasuke prepared to attacked, but in a split second he found himself unbalanced on the layer a second later.

Sakura's eyes were closed and her right arm was raised in the air, apparently she had just punched him really hard very quickly, "I thought you would be prepared for one of my Ikkyou no jutsu attacks Sasuke-kun!" she giggled looking cocky and happy at the same time.

But neither Sasuke nor Zack, or anybody in the audience was paying attention to her at the moment. Everybody's attention was turned towards the ceiling-? The light fixture holding up the overhead lights had begun to swing.

There was an audible creak and a screw popped out of somewhere, landing just before Sakura who paid no mind. Time slowed down, as it usually seemed to when bad things happened. Zack panicked, as did Hannah, they had no time to reach their Angels and save them, they would have to make their Angels run or be crushed by the light. The two Deus would be safe from their distance; I cannot say the same for Sasuke and Sakura.

But with everyone screaming they lost control of their Angels, Sakura was like a deer in the headlights on the layer. Sasuke seemed to have some control but struggled to move.

They say Angels are guided by their Deus's heart, so its no wonder why Sasuke did what he did.

"Sakura-!" he howled over all the noise as the light began to fall. He leapt forward just in time to latch one arm around her shoulders. But when he was out of time. They didn't make it out of danger. At least Sasuke didn't.

Everything from the waist down lay crushed under the large metal light. A broken shard of glass had lodged it self in Sakura's throat, right above her choker, she'd been protected by Sasuke when he half pushed half sheltered her out and from the danger.

By now Zack and Hannah sat in utter shock and horror, they'd stopped controlling their Angels so they had started acting from their Deus's hearts. Sakura gazed down at Sasuke with a look of disbelief, she tried to speak, but her voice box was now destroyed by the glass shard. Sasuke turned weakly to look up at her; he smiled for once before he shuddered. His steel gray eyes suddenly because dark and lifeless, and his torso slumped onto the layer.

Apparently the computers were still registering the damage, not knowing that the match didn't count and would never be continued again, for the screen read: _Winner: Angel Sakura and Deus Hannah_.

But Hannah didn't feel like a winner at all.

* * *

A/N: Ohohoho… starting off with a bit of drama. (pats Hannah on head) Too bad this is only the beginning of her streak of bad luck.

Hannah: WHAT! I hate you (tries to kick Sora)

Ve1vet: (dodges) Well I can only tell you that things go from bad to worse from here. I really did like Sasu-kun and Zack-kun, but looking back on it I said, yanno, I could really throw in some drama if they go bye-bye. But trust me you'll see the odd squad again (Sasuke: "HEY!") Well… one of the odd squad. Hohoho… spoiler (smirk) And for those who haven't read ATO ya don't; have to go back and read it, though I wouldn't mind a few more reviews (hint hint nudge nudge cough cough) but anyways… I hope for this to be my fanfiction masterpiece. But I said that about 'Yin Yang Angels' and look what happened to it. I was so upset that only Motoko-chan was my only reader, it was my masterpiece (sob). Anyways, Black Imps from Honeydukes to everyone who reviews (Hohoho… Harry Potter )


	2. File 002: Silence in the Answer

Hours later the two sat together in a cold waiting room in the Arena. A few expert Angel repairmen rushed out immediately when the light fell and took Sakura and Sasuke (what was left) into a room labeled: _Emergency Angel Hospital, Employees ONLY!_

She held her head in her hands, she'd thought her streak of bad luck was over…over on _that_ day. An unpleasant memory began to surface again…

* * *

Chibi Angel Allie: "Just swingin' by folks to remind ya that I was in ATO too! Except I died… but anyways, just as a little ickle review I died two years ago right before the Semi-final and the Finals. Allison, over and out!

* * *

"_ALLIE!" Hannah bellowed as she barreled into the room. She puffed, feeling exhausted, but she was glad she had made it. Hannah was only in 7th grade so she was much shorter back then, her hair was as long and her voice was a little childish sounding since it hadn't matured yet._

_The one referred to as 'Allie' was actually Allison Sullivan, a girl in her class. The two had become best friends after Hannah discovered Angelic Layer. "Hannah…-" she said in a weak voice, "-…You came…"_

"_Why wouldn't I-?" she knelt next to her friend, putting her elbows on the bed, "Allie- why didn't you-"_

"_-Tell you I had Leukemia-?" she smiled softly noticing the worried look on her friends face, "-'cause I didn't want to see you the way you look now-"_

_Tears welled in Hannah's eyes but she didn't dare let them fall, "But! I could've-"_

"_Could've what-? I've known you forever Hannah. Whenever something bad is happening you do anything to help-" she paused to take a deep breath, "If I had told you then you would've recklessly done anything to help me." She turned her gaze towards the ceiling._

"_But- aren't you-"_

"_Afraid-?"_

"_I hate it when you know what I'm thinking." She plastered a fake smile to her face._

"_I know. Sorries!" she smiled brightly which seemed to light up the whole room, "I'm kinda tired… will you be here when I wake up-?" she asked, her face was pale and she looked exhausted from talking._

"_Uh huh." (Yes) she nodded choking back tears, "Will you- wake- up-?" she asked between chokes._

_Allie nodded weakly with a smile, but a sad one. She was lying no doubt, "But one more thing Hannah-"_

"_Y-Yes-?"_

"_I am afraid…"_

"_Of- w-what-?"_

"_That…" she had started crying too, "I won't wake up-" her smile faded when she saw the shocked expression of what was Hannah's face who was unable to talk, she reached out and weakly grabbed her hand; "-And that… I won't be here when you need a friend… the most-"_

_Hannah stopped trying and let the tears fall, she opened her mouth but Allie cut her off, "-Take Lulu-"_

"_Wha-what?"_

"_Lulu- I put my heart into making her-" Allison smiled another sad, but wide smile, "So if you keep her close… we'll never be… far apart- Night. Hannah." with that she almost immediately fell asleep._

_Her grip on Hannah's hand loosened and for a moment there was complete silence. But then the beeping stopped that showed Allie's heart beat. There was a constant BEEP! She even managed to tune out the noise. She stared at her friend, no, she was no longer her friend. She was the mere shell of her friend. Allie was gone and never to return._

_She widened her eyes and laid her head on the mattress tears streaking her face.

* * *

_

The girl shook the thought out of her mind wanting to cry, she knew Zack would be worried though and choked back the tears. She felt a comforting hand rest on her left shoulder; she already knew it was Zack. Outside he pretended to be happy, though it was obvious to tell he was hurting inside.

"Hannah and Zack?" the two looked up at a pretty woman dressed in a white nurse uniform. "You're Angel has been repaired. Please follow me."

Hannah blinked at the nurse, _Angel? Maybe she just forgot to use the plural?_

Stepping into a white room the two teens looked to a door opposite of them, which opened and in stepped two men in black suits.

The shorter of the men stepped forward, holding Sakura in one hand, "Hannah?"

She looked at him with an overjoyed expression.

"I'm afraid I have some very good news and some bad news."

Scratch that. She looked at him with a horrified expression.

"We-we we're able to remove the shard from Sakura's throat, and she will be able to operate again. But… the glass damaged her voice box and the area surrounding it; I'm afraid she is a mute Angel now…"

Hannah didn't care; she only wanted her Angel back. Sakura could still fight and that meant they would still continue to be a team.

On the other hand the man (Mr. Draconia) turned to Zack with a grim look. The Asian boy knew what he was going to say, so they remained silent for what seemed like ages. "Does that mean-?" he felt his throat become tight but managed to quickly say, "-Sasuke and I lose our place in the top Deus line up?"

Mr. Draconia nodded, "Sadly- yes, I'm sorry but we did all we could. On behalf of Piffle Princess I would like to express our sincerest apologies; we will start investigation of the mysterious light as soon as the tournament is over."

The words seemed to just tumble out of her mouth, "You mean the tournament is still on? Sakura just got out of the hospital, and since technically she won the match I'll have to fight again!" Hannah felt tears well in her eyes, "And-and- Sasuke-"

"Like I said Miss Leonhart, we will look into it." Dranoia turned to Zack once again, "I suggest you call your parents and get home ASAP. That reporter Lindsay Redan has been seen in the stadium… I'm sure you know about her articles and how much she twists the stories? She's got it in for Angelic Layer."

Lindsay Redan was a popular journalist in North Virginia. She apparently has a grudge against Angelic Layer for some reason, which is why she often writes articles about 'how violence shouldn't be disguised by the innocent faces of Angelic Layer Angels'.

Zack glanced at Hannah and they exchanged glances, he pulled her into a quick hug before she could cry before turning and heading for the door. In an instant he was gone.

The two men in black quits each put one hand on her shoulder as Draconia explained that they would escort her to the layer since

"Hannah Leonhart's mind must be somewhere else folks! This had been her longest battle to date!" the announcer cried while the audience broke into whispers.

The battle had been going on for at least five minutes now. Usually Hannah would end them in less than a minute on a good day. But unlike normal days, this was a very bad day. Sakura had taken much more damage than she should have, but she dealt a good amount of damage to her opponents.

She threw three more shuriken at Angel Winn, hitting him square in the chest, which sent him flying backwards. The layer was an abandoned and run down temple. Sakura hopped onto a broken beam easily and crouched down waiting for his next move. Her movements were a bit slow since her point gauge was below the halfway mark. But, lucky for her Winn's points were in the red danger zone and he looked as if he was about to drop dead.

He started to get up and look around for maybe a shuriken in the grass; Sakura had smacked away his sword earlier. She closed her eyes, a very dangerous thing to do, but it helped her concentrate on her ninjutsu. She performed several katas on Hannah's command.

_Horse. Dragon. Tiger._ Tiger, her final kata, was the sign for a fire jutsu, but Winn didn't exactly know that.

_Horse of the Flames! _Sakura crossed her arms over her chest so her hands were behind her back. And quickly acted as if she was pushing something off her; but out of what seemed air several flames burst and followed the direction of her hands. They raced towards Winn, taking on the appearance of horse made of fire. There was a small explosion and then it was all over.

Sakura dropped from the pole and landed on the temple steps. Since all her special points were used up her jutsu cost her some precious hit points so now she was in the red zone. That wasn't a problem though; Winn had no hit points, which was all that mattered.

Special points were a handy trick Lina Paiya of Hawaii had shown her. An Angel has an x number of special points that they could use for special moves like Sakura's many jutsus. Although, still being rather new to the special points system Hannah was a bit reckless and more often than not she drained Sakura's special point, or SP gauge, quickly. Lina, being wise in the ways of SP usage could summon and use more moves than she could.

"But in the end Sakura comes out on top! Let's give it up to our champions, Hannah and Sakura!"

Hannah jumped out of her chair and picked up Sakura, Sakura gave her a weak grin and looked at her before she was taken out of the layer. When Hannah wasn't in control she went on automatic command while in the layer. She swore that just for a moment the layer flickered. Hannah also swore she saw Winn's eyes open, but they weren't the normal gray color, they were more like an inky black. But as quickly as that moment had come it was gone, and it seemed no one else noticed what just happened.

She nearly ran down the hall to the parking lot. What had happened to Winn? Why were his eyes black? She felt a heavy weight being put on her shoulders. She nearly ran all the way home, only to be mobbed by her parents.

"Welcome home Hannah sweetie!" he mother said pulling her into a big hug. Her dad patted her on the head and smiled.

"You want something…" Hannah said hugging her mom back and pulling away. Amy Leonhart NEVER waited for her daughter at the door, nor did she hug her or say 'sweetie'.

"Not at all! We got you a present! You're going to…"

* * *

"_Japan?_ Bloody hell Miss Hannah, I don't believe it." Jin said in her usual British accent.

"I know." Hannah replied as she walked across the room holding the phone. "It was really random, but they said I was really stressed out and needed a vacation. They're acting really strange. I mean bizarre!"

Jin, a classmate of Hannah's moved over to the states about two years ago. She instantly fell in love with America and became addicted to mac n' cheese, something they didn't have in England. That, and Nutella chocolate peanut butter. Her hair was blonde, shoulder length, and her eyes a light brown color. Jin was a precocious girl, a bit of a nerd at times, but a good friend. Though it was sometimes hard to understand her accent, as it was pretty heavy; and Hannah burst out laughing every time Jin asked for 'Al-you-min-ie-ummm' foil. Which was aluminum foil.

"Well, enjoy it while you can, love." The girl could hear her flopping down on what sounded like her bed, "And buy some nice advanced Angelic layer equipment for yourself." She added.

Suddenly a male Irish broke in on their conversation, "Bloody hell Jin you've been on the 'fone all day. Wha' don't 'cha give me and Ron some time on the?"

Said person was one of Jin's two older brothers: Ron and 'Scooter', two carrot-headed twins. They attended a boarding school in Ireland and lost their English accents a very long time ago.

"Would 'ja just shut up Ron?" she said retorted, "Anyways Hann-"

"Hannah? H how's it goin' Miss Leonhart?"

"Hi Ron."

"Leave 'er alone lover boy." Jin growled, "Anyways Han, we've got to go. Scooter's-"

"Goin' ter take us to the picture show. Ya wan'a come?"

"For the love of God Ron! She's in Japan!" Jin screamed over the line. "This is why ya don't butt your nasty little carrot top self into our conversations!"

"Well I gotta run too, thanks for the offer Ron."

"Bye Han."

"Seeya J. Bye Ron."

"Bye Miss Leonhart."

"You know you can just call me Hannah right? Cow." With that she hung up and headed out of her room.

While it was a bit of a hike she soon found just the building she was looking for. And just the person too!

"You're her brother right?" she glanced down at the boy, "Is she busy?"

"No, she and her boyfriend are getting a mushy in the practice room though." He made a face to show how disgusting he thought it was. "This way."

* * *

Many escalator rides, long hallways, six different rooms later they arrived at what appeared to be the practice room. Domon cracked the door slightly, "Yo Lina-!"

"Domon! What ever you have to say can wait-" at this Domon opened the door just a tad more to reveal Hannah who stood behind him.

She waved shyly, "Hi Lina. Long time no see eh-?" She watched with wide eyes as Lina darted past her brother and pulled her into a death hug. Lina, being much taller and stronger than could lifted her a good couple of inches off the ground. (Hannah is a little short)

"Hannah! How's it going kitty kat?" (Cat is spelled wrong on purpose)

There was a loud 'Ahem' from behind them, where Kurokoneko stood on the layer.

"Pretty… good. Yourself?" she replied.

"Not bad, Kuro-chan and I are doing real well in the Worlds! I think we're going to win it!" the raven-haired girl smirked. "Jyung's my second." She motioned to Jyung behind her who waved slightly.

Hannah leaned over, to take Sakura out of her pocket and set her on the layer with Kuro. Sakura went into automatic mode and grinned happily up at the cat Angel. Hannah then waved at Jyung and the two girls turned to look at the Angels.

"Sakura-chan!" Kuro grinned and sat down so she could make eye contact with Saku. "How's it goin?"

Sakura motioned with her hands, which was sign language. This didn't seem to bother the cat Angel as she replied: "That's nice to hear. Me and Lina are doing good too-" Sakura grinned and made a few more motions.

"Kuro understands sign language?"

"Apparently. Sakura knows sign language?"

"I guess." They shrugged at each other and sat in awkward silence to watch the battle dolls.

Kuro nodded her head but her eyes widened and she went: "No way!" Sakura nodded, "That's terrible!"

Sakura decided to kneel, it was probably awkward standing while someone was sitting. She continued motioning and turned to point at Hannah several times.

"So did he ever get repaired?" Kuro asked, Sakura looked away as an answer, "That's sad."

Sakura gave a slightly comforting smile and motioned again. "I guess you're right."

"I'm a bit lost here…" Lina turned to look at Hannah, as did Jyung who remained rather silent. "Sakura has a voice so why doesn't she talk? And who's 'he'?"

The brunette girl was about to answer but Kuro piped up, "Sakura-chan says her friend Sasuke got hit by a light fixture and was never repaired. Her voice box got destroyed by a shard of glass." As if to reinforce what the cat Angel said Sakura pulled her choker down to revealed what looked like a deep scar.

"Aww… I'm sorry…"

"But she also says she doesn't mind not being able to talk." Kuro added, cutting Lina off. Sakura nodded again at this.

"How long till she can get it fixed?" the raven-haired girl asked.

"She won't. Ever." the boy piped up, but it wasn't Jyung's or Domon's voice...

* * *

**Bllllurgh! Happy Halloween! I realleh wanted to do a Halloween special but then I realized, oh, wait, I set this around Christmas! Damn it all! Anyways, reviews as always are appreciated and will be rewarded with giant nine pound nestle Crunch's!**


	3. File 003: Two for the Money

"Who the hell are you?" Lina growled, "And how'd ja get in here?" 

"Isn't he…" Hannah squinted her eyes a bit, trying to remember something important. Her thoughts were soon interrupted.

"I work here." The boy stepped out of the shadows from which he stood, holding what appeared to be a master key.

"That still leaves us with the problem of who you are. Name, quest, and favorite color." (A/N: Haha. Monty Python :3 )

He heaved a sigh, "Haruka Daisuke, here to pick up Leonhart-sama, red."

At the sound of her name Hannah spun around on her heel to examine him. He was about Lina's height, not too tall or too short. His hair was a chestnut brown, slightly spiked and his eyes were a strange gray, almost light blue. Just by his name it was easy to tell he was Japanese, and by the fact he wasn't extremely tall like American boys. His voice was deep but there was a strange kindness and maturity about it. His ears were pierced with what looked like silver clasps on each ear. He wore a school uniform, a dark blue jacket, unbuttoned, with a high collar and straight dark blue pants.

"What?" Hannah asked.

"I believe you requested a meeting with Mr. Mihara. Pardon the interruption but unless you want to wait two weeks the only free time he has for a meeting is right now. So lets go."

* * *

"Hannah Leonhart… what a pleasant surprise." For a mad Japanese man Icchan had surprisingly good English. She tapped his chin and sort of grinned at her. 

"Oh, um, hi! I'm looking for a Mr. Mihara? And, how'd you know-"

"I am Mr. Mihara, and, I know everything dear." He patted her on the head, "Please follow me." Doing as she was instructed Hannah followed him down a long corridor. The two, well three, Sakura was on Hannah's shoulder, stepped into a darkened room with several brightly lit screens.

"Ogata!" Icchan howled into the darkness and his assistant instantly jumped to his feet.

"Y-Yes Mihara-sama?" he asked nervously darting over to Icchan and Hannah.

"I want you to bring me three bottles of Ramune in less than ten minutes or you'll have to play a penalty game." He smirked evilly.

"W-what sort o-of penalty game s-sir?"

"Well… do you want me to just skip ahead and we can play it now?" Icchan replied, the answer obviously no, "Now get me the Ramune!"

"Ri-right away Mihara-sama!"

Hannah felt very bad for Ogata, and turned to Icchan with a confused looked, "Mr. Mihara I know you must be a busy man and don't have much free time to spend; but I came to ask a favor-"

It seemed as if he was rolling this question over and over in his mind, for he didn't reply immediately, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. My dear, I come up with the ideas for toys. I have nothing but free time. Now go on."

"-In the states… well there's this big rumor that Angels are being destroyed. A-And weird things are happening, and… a lot of weird things are happening. Could, I, by any slim chance investigate into Angelic layers records? Yanno, of like threats against the company, rivals, unhappy customers? I think if I look hard enough there might be some secret to all-"

"Hmmm…." Here, he cut her off, "Those are some very confidential files. They're only open to high-up employees…" Hannah felt her heart sink at this. "But, I know you have no intention of misusing the records or giving out our secrets…" he stepped over to one of the many computers, and started digging for something.

"AH HAH!" he cried randomly after a few minutes. Ogata was almost out of time now, "Here it is!" Icchan clicked the mouse several times and the largest screen came to life.

_"Sakura!" the raven haired Angel pushed it's opponent out of danger. The audience paused and all was silent as they stared at the Angel; his lower half crushed under the light fixture as two Deus stared in disbelief at the sight before them._

"I'm rather sure that this is why you want a look into our records?" he scratched his chin as the girl nodded slowly. The two sat in awkward silence as Icchan 'hmmed' to himself and Hannah bounced on her heels.

"Files are only open to high-ranking employees," he muttered loudly after several minutes of silence. Then he turned to the girl who stared at him with anticipation, "Well…" he grinned, "How would you like a job at Angelic Layer?"

This definitely took her by surprise; "Phwee-?" was her intelligent reply.

Out of nowhere he took a clipboard with a job application clipped to it from behind his back, "Just sign on the dotted line."

* * *

That afternoon as she returned to the Angelic Layer office building, Icchan surprised her by popping out of the vent and screaming his usual: "Icchan go boom!" 

"Mr. Mihara?"

"No-no Icchan."

"Errmm… Mr. Icchan? Why are you in the vent?"

Icchan frowned slightly, "Kids these days don't appreciate surprises. Right this way."

The two walked down the long white hallway to an egg shaped door with a chibi wing for a handle. Upon entering the room they were greeted by several women dressed in Angel outfits and nurses' caps. There were a few tables about three feet long with different Angel parts or accessories.

An Angel nurse with wavy blonde hair walked up to Hannah and smiled, "Miss Leonhart?" Hannah replied with a slow nod, "Please follow me. Mihara-sama would you like to wait out here?"

Without waiting for his reply the nurse ushered the girl to another room where Sakura lay on the table looking peaceful. Hannah rushed forward to get her Angel but a male voice said, "Wait!" It was very mature, and deep.

"Daisuke?" She asked confused, looking to the end of the table where non other than Haruka Daisuke sat. But, he was wearing a strange headset attached to the table…

This is a layer? Hannah looked to the table Sakura lay on, almost on cue the layer buzzed to life and Sakura's emerald eyes opened wide. The Angel jumped to her feet, taking her battle stance; she had been stripped of her Kunai/shuriken holster, which Hannah noted was on a small end table nearby. Along with her battle costume? But, unless they made an identical copy of Saku's costume then she couldn't be…

Then the layer light up and shone with a brilliant light. She covered her eyes with her arm and watched as Sakura reached over her head, as it appeared her outfit had started glowing brightly too. The light on the layer began to fade leaving Sakura shining brightly.

Hannah felt as if she were having a deejay-vu (sp?) moment, because she could have sworn she'd seen something similar on an anime like Sailor moon. Her battle costume began to fall away in strips of glowing light, like ribbon sliding off a smooth object. But don't worry, as the ribbons fell and disappeared in silver sparkles they revealed a new battle costume underneath.

As she watched this all go on the girl looked up slightly at Sakura's face. Her expression was like nothing she'd ever seen before. Eyes half closed as if she were half-asleep and her mouth in a small, perfect 'o'. But as she stared unblinkingly she noticed the same brilliant light passed through her eyes and through her hair. Her eyes turned to crystal blue and her hair silver and shiny. Her goggles disappeared and turned into a pair of silver and light blue headphones with a silver star hanging off a light blue cord on each side.

Now that her original costume had melted away with the ribbons of light it revealed an entirely new costume. It was a dress that went to about mid thigh made from a shiny black, silver, and light blue material. Her choker had been replaced with the collar of the dress, which in itself was like a choker as it went around her neck and buckled in the back. Down her front was a black square in a straight line in between each of her shoulder blades. Acting as buttons were silver stars in two straight rows down the black stripe, though they were probably just there for decoration. The trim was silver and the rest of her dress light blue. Around her waist was a black belt with a silver star, and from her waist down her dress was pleated.

On her arms were black gloves, a silver star on the top of each hand; the trim was also silver. Her boots weren't much different; they were black and widened after the knee. But on the toe of each boot was a silver star and the soles were silver as were the threads tying them together. On her back, though, remained the white wings, only they were more metallic and shone bright silver to match and were outlined with light blue.

Hannah's jaw dropped at the sight, even Sakura seemed a little surprised as her now blue eyes widened and she looked down at herself. The nurses applauded the mini-performance and Daisuke grinned. "Leonhart-sama! Whaddya think?"

"I think I'm going to faint." She replied, still staring at Sakura. Or what used to be Sakura, this was some new Angel disguised as Sakura. "Where's Sakura?" (A/N: Lots of Sakura's in that sentence)

"This is Sakura." He went on to say as Hannah proceeded to drop to her knees so she could be eye level with her Angel, "Were introducing her as Athena's 'little sister' so we made her a new costume and we gave her a transformation mode. Which is what you just saw."

He got a confused look for a reply, so he explained, "What you just saw was a hologram. We used the hologram to cover up Sakura's new costume and make it look like she's transforming. We also use the layer to change her hair and eye color. It's quite simple really." He spun in the chair and turned to what looked like a laptop plugged into the layer. Daisuke typed in something and Sakura's eyes changed to red, then yellow, then purple, back to her normal green, then Kurokoneko green, then back to crystal blue. "When she's on the layer it's possible to change her appearance. Like the data computer and scanner you got. With similar technology we can do it after their data has been entered and saved. If I wanted too I could make her a Power of defense right now. But for your sake she'll remain a balance."

Hannah 'phewed' at this, "What if she gets a layer out and looks like this."

"Wanna find out?"

The girl hesitated and nodded slowly, she reached into the layer and picked up her Angel, then removed her from the layer altogether. Almost instantly her hair turned back to the smooth, choppy pink it was. "She'll just change from Silver Sakura to her normal self automatically. No biggie. She'll also recognize when she's battling Athena and will change when necessary." Dai grinned.

"And when your not doing battle against Athena or Hikaru you can change back to her usual costume. He removed the headset and pointed to the end table, "Just don't lose her new costume, 'less you want to be in trouble. I worked hard on it!"

* * *

"Where are we going?" 

"You'll see."

"No I won't! You blindfolded me!" Hannah growled, clutching 'Black Sakura' to her chest. "Why'd I have to dress up? It's so hard to find a nice dress in Japan, while only speaking English, in two hours ya know!"

"We're almost there, so sit down and shaddup." Daisuke said, a little annoyed by her nervous chatter. A few minutes later she felt the car pull to a stop. "We're here."

"Where?" she tugged on the back of the blindfold as it fluttered into her lap. She stepped out of the car and looked around. The only real sight to see was a large building, with something written in neat Japanese. There was also a red carpet, with lots of people, all dressed in beautiful clothes. Her simple black and pink dress paled in comparison!

She noted a very pretty girl with glasses who wore a long dark red dress with diamond straps. Another angry looking girl wore a short dark brown dress with white trim. Then there was a third girl, rather short wearing a red and white tank top with a red skirt…

"Misaki!" she gasped, then FINALLY noticed everyone here had an Angel on their shoulder.

"Eh-? Hannah-chan!" Misaki dashed over, smiling, Hikaru rode on her shoulder and wore a very pretty red dress like Misaki's. The girl suddenly felt out of place because Sakura was in her black costume. "I didn't know you were coming too!"

"Coming to what?"

"There's a big battle tonight. It's between a bunch of famous Deus-" Misaki was interrupted by two familiar voices, "Hannah"  
The girls turned towards the red carpet and swarm of paparazzi only to see Jyung and Lina waving at them. Lina grinned, something about that grin told Hannah she'd know about this the whole time.

Japanese paparazzi and reporters attacked Misaki, but after fending them off they ran inside. Almost immediately Hannah's name was called over the intercom, it told her to report to the layer. What joy.

She took a seat on the north side of the layer, and you can only guess who took the south side. No it wasn't Misaki. It was Mrs. Suzuhara. More joy.

"If I'm battling Mrs. Suzuhara then that means this is our first opening match!" she mumbled to herself. Scanning the rest of the stadium, she noted Daisuke was busying in what appeared to be the special effects booth. He also wore a headset, which he was constantly mumbling into. He stopped for a moment to give Hannah a thumbs up, which she thought was incredibly nice of him.

"Angels to the layer!" the announcer cried as the sophisticated audience of Deus clapped instead of shouting like public audiences do. "Our opening match is between the might Athena-" there were a few shouts here, "And her little sister Sakura!" there was just clapping for Sakura.

Athena fell in first, spinning and twirling. When she touched the layer sparks flew up and a silver, ghostly bird formed and circled the layer. Athena was updated with all the latest upgrades and armor. She did a similar transformation to that of Sakura's. Except her wings came out and wrapped around her, when she reappeared she glittered like a diamond. All the white parts of her outfit (which hadn't changed much) turned to a glossy silverish color.

Everyone in the audience gasped and awed, when they had quieted down Sakura fell in. When she touched the layer, little diamond like stars shot from the layer and littered the room with floating sparkles. They disappeared after a few seconds, but it was still fairly cool. She stared at Athena for a moment before going through her transformation mode. When it was completed a large, ghostly wolf like thing appeared. Similar to the bird, except it ran right up to Athena and snapped at her before disappearing.

"Angelic Fight!"

* * *

**A/N:** (Vacuums cobwebs) Hey all! Been awhile. Thanks all for the constant reviews! I edited this chapter so many times it wasn't funny! I wrote at least ten pages worth and removed about six of those several times. I got distracted while writing the Athena and Sakura battle so I decided to put it up like it is. Now Sakura is a magical girl sorta(Grin). Thanks DBC dude, Saint X, Motoko, Sugar, and everyone for reviewing ROA. I didn't think it'd get any reviews! (squeal!) And for reviewing TM even though I haven't updated it in a few months! Luffs ya! 


	4. File 004: Infection

"The clock is ticking Hannah..."

* * *

Athena was the first to strike since she was the fastest. Sakura raised her arms quickly in an X to try and defend. _She's so fast…_ Hannah thought as Athena struck, her blow sent Sakura skidding backwards. _How can a speed Angel be that strong?_

Sakura bounced back by flying forward with a punch. The speed angel was too quick for her; she grabbed her fist and stopped her momentum. Hannah paused as Sakura stared at Athena in shock and maybe even horror.

She had spared Sakura for today though. Athena merely yanked her back so she landed chin first on the layer. She jumped to her feet, spinning around to prepare for another attack. Athena turned to face her opponent with her usual emotionless face. Her wings slowly unfolded as Sakura charged.

While changing into her 'wing mode' Athena couldn't attack. She'd have to wait until she was airborne to start attacking again. It was now or never.

The silver haired Angel picked up speed, closer, a few inches now… _CRUNCH!_

"My my! Sakura lands a hit and it doesn't sound good!" the announcer said in a soft voice.

Hannah had closed her eyes at this part, but opened them to reveal an amazing sight. Sakura and Athena were completely still, the balance angel's fist on the silver armor of her shoulder. The armor was cracked at the joint; a few silver shards had fallen to the layer.

Everyone had stopped everything to stare, how could this be? Balance angels didn't have nearly enough strength to _break_ high-tech, custom-made armor. The silence in the arena was broken by Lina's cry: "Now's your chance!"

_Oh right!_ Sakura came back to life, landing two more punches and an axe kick she'd seen Kuro use once (A/N: Axe kick is the only thing I remember from my tae-kwon-do lessons). Athena didn't let her land any more hits, she took to the sky and flew circles around the layer.

Sakura was helpless on the ground; she could only wait till Athena was close enough to attack. The white Angel went into a dive, if she landed this hit it would most definitely be a layer out. Silver Sakura braced herself for what would be her last shot at victory.

Athena came closer, closer, then, in the blink of an eye she shot across the layer with amazing speed.

This definitely caught Hannah off guard, _Fast!_ They were face to face now, Sakura jumped into the air, grabbing Athena's left wing and used it to land in the center of the layer; she couldn't layer out now! Athena spun around on a dime and soared towards the balance Angel. Sakura was just turning around to face her, just not quickly enough.

Once again time came to a sudden stop, as it usually does in this story to give Hannah a clear view of what was happening. The speed Angel brought her leg up, slamming it into the balance Angel's side and part of her back. Sakura gasped as her pupils shrunk. She flew across the layer spinning from the impact. She hit the layer once, twice, then a third time, using her bit of strength to try and grip something. Something, anything, just to keep her from going too far from the middle. Sakura's point gauge took a dramatic drop, to the point where she only had about five points left; not nearly enough to move the upgraded Sakura. She rolled to a stop, at the edge of the layer.

A silver star from her Angel cord had been ripped off by the sheer force, it tumbled to the ground and spun. It tinkled as it touched the layer, then like it's owner, rolled to a stop.

One arm rested on her stomach while the other one twitched with the last of her strength. She just barely managed to curl it into a fist before Athena came from behind and kicked her side. This drained the very last of her hit points. Sakura shimmered as her black costume reappeared and her pale pink hair returned.

The audience remained silent for a moment, and then applauded Athena for her victory. Hannah just sat there, staring at the little black lump of her defeated Angel. She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, knowing it was Daisuke. "It was a good try." He said.

"Was it worth it?" Hannah asked, looking sadly up at him. The lights flickered for a second, and she felt something move in her hand. The girl looked to her Angel, nothing out of the ordinary, had she really just felt that? What was it anyways?

She suspiciously turned her attention to the light fixtures above. She had to squint but she did see a hunched over figure, it looked like it was holding it's stomach too… She also noticed that one of the fixtures was swinging back and forth, as if it was on the verge of falling.

The two turned and headed towards the employees only room. There was a loud crash, and the audience gasped. Hannah didn't have to turn around to know what had happened.

Whoever the culprit was, he was following her, even halfway across the world.

But the thing that had worried her the most wasn't the culprit. This place had a constant flow of power… So how come the lights flickered?

* * *

_RIIING!_

"Mmm…" the girl rolled onto her stomach, pinking up the hotel phone, "mmmmm-?"

"_Hannah?"_

"Yeah-?"

"_It's Lina! Hey! Great battle last night!"_

"Yeah, yeah, sure, do you know what time it is?"

"_9 am. Why?"_

"OMIGAWD ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

"_Yeah, quite the sleeper aren't 'cha kitty kat?"_

"So what's up?" Hannah rubbed her blue eye with her free hand.

"_Jyung and I are gonna hit the town. See some sights before my match. Wanna come? Oh the pest is coming too…" Hannah could hear a loud 'hey!' in the background, probably Domon's voice. _

"_Nya! Bring Sakura-chan too!" that was definitely Kuro's voice._

Hannah stole a glance at her Angel; she was fast asleep on her little personal layer. "Of course I will Kuro. That sounds great. Do you mind if I come cheer for you at your match later?" She said cheerfully, a little bit more awake now.

"_That would be great! Can't wait! Can you meet us at Tokyo Tower?"_

"Sure."

"_Great! So get dressed and meet us in an hour! Ciao!"_

"Ciao!"

Forty-five minutes and some speed dressing later, Hannah stood outside Tokyo Tower. She wore a short pleated skirt with a red plaid pattern and a white sweatshirt. Sakura was still asleep on the layer; it was rather difficult getting the layer in her backpack just so that she would fall out.

Soon after Lina, Jyung, Domon, and a British girl she didn't know showed up. Lina gave her another big hug, before they set off. They were a rather odd looking group so naturally they got a lot of funny looks. Hannah tried to keep her head down and keep her face from turning too red.

Lina seemed like a natural, she smiled and acted very casual and comfortable in this environment. Occasionally she stopped to sign autographs, as did the British girl and Jyung.

"Oh! By the way this is Jools!" Lina smacked her forehead; "I forgot to introduce you earlier. She's my new bud." Jools smiled as she and Hannah shook hands.

The group hit a candy store first, Hannah decided to try tome strangely flavored pocky while everyone else feasted on other treats. Lina and Hannah grabbed a two-person table. Jools and Jyung were protecting their ice cream from Domon who had finished his already.

"So what's up with that Daisuke guy anyway? How can he be so young and already have such an important job for PP?" Lina asked, stealing one of Hannah's pocky.

She lolled her head back, not noticing her missing pocky, why was Daisuke working for Mihara? "I honestly don't know." Hannah picked up another bread stick, chewing on it before continuing, "I did hear from another worker he's been taken off his projects to help me out."

"How?" the raven-haired girl's eyes watered from the pocky. It was actually a very disgusting flavor, but since it was in Japanese nobody could read it.

"He's keeping my records safe so they don't get leaked to the press. He's also been following me around a whole lot, like a bodyguard."

"Don't you already have body guards?"

"I told them to stay in America, nobody in Japan has seen ATO anyways." She waved a hand carelessly, watching as Lina frowned, "What?"

Speak of the devil, "Can I have your autograph?" an American tourist had approached their table, eyes sparkling.

"Uhh… sure…" Hannah whipped out a pen and scribbled her name on a napkin she'd been handed. "Here ya go…"

There was a high-pitched squeal and a scream of thanks from the girl. Lina laughed nervously, "I forgot to tell you they've already shown your movie like three times back at my hotel." She grinned, avoiding eye contact.

"Your hiding something…"

"I thought you knew… but there's a dubbed version at the Japanese Blockbuster." Lina laughed one more time while Hannah slammed her forehead onto the table.

* * *

"Time to go to work Leonhart-sama."

"Just call me Hannah, Dai-kun."

"I'll call you Hannah when you stop calling me Dai-kun." He said irritably, two female workers nearby laughed. The two entered a dark room, similar to that of the one she met Mihara in.

"Where are we _Dai-suke…_" She said in a plain tone, Hannah had thought 'Dai-kun' was an adorable nickname.

"The records room _Ha-nnah_…" he replied in a mocking tone, she obviously didn't appreciate, "Alright, alright." He sighed, "Sorry about that. Now I've dug up some pretty good info on the Double S-case."

The girl looked at him with a strange look. "Jeez, the Sasuke and Sakura case. Double S sounds cooler."

"You watch too many spy movies." Hannah shook her head, to which Daisuke only grinned. "So what did you find out?" She asked, stepping forward towards a large screen on one wall.

"I got this from a security camera…" Daisuke stepped over to a computer, typing in something before the screen flickered to life. "I picked this up from a security tape, from last night. Watch the podium closely…"

A woman dressed in a white Angelic Layer uniform looked up when a customer asked for help, the customer pointed down the hall, so naturally the employee left her podium where she'd greet the guests entering.

It was very hard to see, because the podium was halfway out of the picture. _A gloved hand grabbed the keys left on the podium by the employee._

"Were you able to figure out who the hand belonged to?"

"I got someone in mind…" Daisuke replied, bringing up a list of names on another computer.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey hey, So yeah, Sakura got owned by Athena. Thanks for all the support, and about DDS. I'm pretty much done with the next chapter, and trust me guys you won't be happy about who shows up. (gaspeth! A spoiler! Quickly! Press the little X at the top right of your screen before you read anymore! NO! You pressed it!) Don't worry, Chris opens a can of kick butt on the person who crushed Claire's spirit. But I think some people will be disappointed at how Miyako handles the situation.

Eek! I'm talking about DDS when this is DAD! Haha, anyways, until next time! Smooches, Ve1vet.

_PS:_ I'm working on a special chapter to come out on the 29th, cause the 29th Chinese new year and my birthday (hehe)


	5. File 005: Diamentes

"Do you really think you can beat me little girl?"

* * *

So the girl found herself sipping some coffee Daisuke had made (which was pretty nasty) and flipping through a pile of information her new 'partner' had dug up. Daisuke himself sat in the opposite corner of the room, writing up a report for something she didn't understand. It was hard to concentrate, just her him, the silence, and the unanswered questions that hung in the air between them.

Hannah looked to Sakura, half awake on her layer and still recovering from last night's beat down. The angel smiled wearily at her, rubbing one emerald eye, the Deus just smiled back. Today the partners had two jobs; at least make a dent in the pile of data she had been given, and check for anything unusual in Sakura's system. Daisuke was going to tackle Sakura's system after writing up his report, and Hannah was already working on her job.

They sat in awkward silence for what seemed like hours. The Japanese boy typing away on his computer, the American champ trying to read the data, to no avail. Her math homework made very little sense to her, let alone pages and pages of equations, codes, long words she'd never even heard of.

After about fort five minutes more of painful silence Daisuke leaned back in his chair and sighed, meaning he was done. 'Well, let's get on it." He announced, standing up and stretching before he walked over and picked up Sakura.

Hannah followed him to another room; it was completely white and had a small layer in the center. "How do we check her data in here?" He didn't answer.

Daisuke walked towards the layer and simply dropped Sakura in. The Angel seemed to be in Auto mode. Her eyes flung open as computers, that were apparently in the walls, began to kick on. The Japanese boy sat down on a chair in front of a small computer built into the layer. There was no mouse, no keyboard, just a tiny, flat screen monitor.

Hannah thought it best to not ask questions as she slunk over and read the screen over Daisuke's shoulder. Lots of numbers and codes appeared, all written in electric green against the black background.

"Show us any broken codes in Angel Sakura's system." Dai said in a serious tone, staring hard at the Angel.

Computers whirled and booted up, codes began to appear on the screen, written in the same electric green. Though, some started coming up as red, and at the very end of the codes about ten entire code-paragraphs were written in red. "Virus detected." A computer voice boomed above them.

"Just as I thought."

"What did you think Dai-kun?" she asked worried.

"Sakura is infected." He said in a serious tone, ignoring the Dai-kun.

Hannah gasped, running over to the edge of the layer, "No! What do I do? She won't break down will she? Can we save he- mmph!" she flapped her arms wildly as Daisuke reached forward and covered her mouth.

"Re…. Lax…" he sounded out, letting go so she could breathe, "If I _didn't_ find this code she _would _have shut down. Though now I can study the virus and _prevent_ her from shutting down." Hannah though this over for a moment and nodded sadly.

"But I have a request to make Dai-kun."

"Nani?"

"Show me how to remove the virus myself."

* * *

The two sat in the video room of the tournament, Hannah's heart pounding in her ears as she watched. It was time for Lina's match and she was nervous for her friend. The finals, the World Championships! It was definitely one of those times where it's okay to bite your nails.

"Relax will ya?" It's just a battle…" Daisuke said nonchalantly as he picked up a cd, examining it before he placed it in his laptop, it was probably a blank so he could record the data.

"I wanted to meet up with Lina earlier to see if Kurokoneko had the virus, what happens if she does?" Hannah asked as she glanced over at the currently de-bugged Sakura.

"Well, If you've still got the chip you can pretty much plug it into any Angelic Layer and it'll automatically de-bug all the angels on it." He rolled a can of soda ovr in his hands before he opened it and took a swig, "Of course this is a tournament battle, if you put anything like your chip in it both contestants will be disqualified."

That didn't help her, not one bit.

Hannah pushed a lock of pale brown hair behind her ear before she looked at her own laptop, of course it wasn't actually hers but Piffle Princess had assigned it to her. The current program running was the data in the layer itself, codes for the environment, sound effects, Angel hit points, etcetera. With the little bit of coding knowledge Daisuke had taught her she had altered all the normal data so it would show up green, anything unnatural was red. Plus a little silhouette of Kurokoneko and her opponent were at the top right corner; it showed her any places where they had taken damage.

This is as far as Hannah could go without technically cheating, logging into Kuro's data would mean she could make any adjustments she wanted, like giving Kuro super strength or something along those lines; As if Kuro needed super strength, she was already a Power type.

She heard Tamaki announce the battle, looking to the door for Miharu's entrance. Here eyes narrowed as she watched someone else step in. Tamaki suddenly flew up to the ceiling with her seat and the audience screamed. What was going on?

The girl tensed as she picked up her master key and Angel. "Leonhart-sama?"

"I've gotta go! You're the brains Dai-kun, please do something!" Hananh called back over her shoulder as she sped out of the video room.

* * *

Hannah was the first to the layer, the referees stunned silent and Tamaki helpless five feet up. Her gaze locked on Miharu's seat, where now Travis Thackerey stood. She growled as he threatened to drop the announcers and pulled on his headset. "Lina!" she cried out, but her voice lost among the shocked gasps and cries of the crowd.

She darted over towards the layer, unnoticed by both Deus as the battle started. She opened a hidden compartment on the side, removing some wires before pulling out a large metal box. She turned to her right, opening the cabinet for official Headsets, removing one fore herself. She watched as shadows fell over her, turning to stare up at Miki and Natalie, two people she had never met before.

"You're with that Travis-punk aren't you!" Natalie growled first, she reached down and gripped the collar of Hannah's shirt. "Tryin' to interfere with Kuro-"

"Natalie! This is Hannah Leonhart… She's Lina's _friend, _Lina said she works for Piffle Princess, she wouldn't try to hurt Kuro." Miki explained softly, "Please Hannah…. Let us help?" the older girl asked as Hannah nodded. She dove into the cabinet for two more headsets.

"Get ready for a tough battle."

* * *

"Calling on your friends Lina for help?" Travis snarled as Hannah finished the last few preparations for Battle override, it allowed more than two Angels to fight at once. Oceania and Electra were the first Angels in. She heard Lina's desperate cry as the Crimson warrior charged for Yongsin.

"You're no pushover…. Fall in Sakura!"

Sakura dropped into the layer, eyes flickering with strange code for a moment. She stepped lightly on the layer and almost immediately jumped and landed a devastating kick on the Angel known as Crimson.

"Sakura-chan! Hannah-chan!"

Sakura nodded quickly, "Silver Sakura, activate!" hands over her head she looked up to Daisuke in the video room. He typed away before giving her a thumbs up. She grinned, turning back to face Crimson while the other Angels moved about the layer.

Drawing out a kunai Sakura smirked as crimson charged for Sakura, axe high over her head. As the axe swung down Silver blocked with the kunai blade, a small indentation created in the weapon. She leapt back; pushing arms up to Crimson was unbalanced for a split second.

The layer shuddered before splitting down the middle. Silver put a hand on the layer to remain balanced, but Crimson had enough weight to stay on her feet. The shinobi-Angel charged forward as the layer lit up with code, kunai arm outstretched for a good punch to the face. Then between the two combatants erupted a giant volcano, and she was forced back.

Hannah managed to catch something about the random layer system from the announcer.

Out of nowhere came the Angel Crimson, spinning the axe high over her head as she crashed to the ground. Silver bent onto her knees and pushed off the ground, back flipping and landing. The layer changed again to a grassy field, an advantage to Silver Sakura.

The balance Angel darted forward again, two kunai clashing with the powerful axe this time in an 'X' shape across her chest. She shot her left arm up, whacking Crimson right between the eyes with her kunai. That was a good, solid hit.

She dropped back to her feet as the Angel fell, but she wasn't down for the count. Crimson rose back to her feet, and as Silver charged again the layer decided to change. It became a rocky mountain, and despite her high balance points the rocky surface beneath her feet broke and she fell.

Silver fell a few inches, landing on one knee and as she got back up a deadly blow was dealt to her head.

Hannah cried out in pain, the audience breaking into a panic as she dropped to her knees. The side of her head throbbed with unbelievable pain and it was hard to stay focused. Crimson took the opportunity to slam her fist down, holding Silver's head against the ground with a strong grip.

For some reason her hand glowed a dull red, Hannah wasn't sure if the audience could see this but she sure could. Slow, steadily the pain increased, the headset beginning to pulse a dull green as she fought to remain in control. Silver opened one eye to gaze helplessly at her opponent.

"_Please Sakura!"_

It was an unfamiliar voice but Hannah knew exactly who it was. Though how she heard it, she didn't know, the old retired Defense Angel sat in her room hundreds of miles away.

Silver kicked up with her leg, knocking Crimson off balance and allowing her to roll onto her side and get to her feet. She didn't let the Angel get away; she threw several of her kunai, all landing in the Angel's side. If that wasn't enough she charged and tackled her opponent, her head throbbing and consciousness fading.

Silver stopped moving after Crimson was finally down; she knew Daisuke in the video room must have overrode her headset. She was rather grateful, because something wasn't right.

* * *

"I hope you win Lina." Hannah said sleepily, while it was hard to tell she was using the wall for support. The older girl nodded before she was escorted away by the security. Sakura lay lifeless, clutched in her hands, Daisuke had done a quick repair job and aside from her broken voice she was as good as new.

Her vision was blurry… dark, since that blow to the head, from the Deus-Angel damage system, she hadn't been able to see well at all.

She heard footsteps, and Daisuke approached her from behind. "Nice work there-" he clapped a hand on her shoulder and Hannah collapsed in a fit of coughs, on her knees spitting up blood. "Hannah-!" he dropped down beside her as she closed her eyes, too tired to move.

"What's wrong?" he asked desperately as she shook her head and fell onto her side, the cool tile felt nice against her throbbing head. Though moments later the cold feeling was gone and she knew Daisuke had picked her up.

"Go get 'em… Lina…" she murmured before falling into a deep slumber.

* * *

**A/N:** Hannah-chan and Sakura-chan here! Wow! Over a year has passed since Against the Odds! Sh-weet! Anyways, Ve1vet is on Summer break (she graduated on 6/6/06 –snicker- ) so she'll try to get in updates, but she's really laaaaaaaaazy. Oooo! We haven't told them about Seventh Star Sakura-chan (silence) Well… Ve1vet went and got herself a little website and is working on a web-novel. So when she gets the first chapter up make sure to check it out! (cricket) Alrightie, that's all the updates for this chapter. Tune in for the next installment of: Die another day!"The virus isn't gone little girl. This is far from over."

* * *

"_Please, join our team? This has to be stopped!_

"_I want you to stop fighting."_

"_Fortune stopped smiling on me when Allie died."_

Just some snippets from the next chapter, see you then!


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